The invention relates to a remote seat cluster in an air cooled under floor housing to provide passenger entertainment, voice and data communication, seat actuation and electric power supply for passenger operated devices.
As described in the applicant""s co-pending patent application PCT/CA02/01858, an increasingly important component of passenger aircraft cabin services is the provision of individualized audio/video entertainment systems, voice and data communications, and electric power for operating laptop computers and personal entertainment devices. Passengers are normally required to remain seated for extended periods and for optimum safety, the passengers should remain seated with safety belt fastened during a flight. To improve service, airlines provide various passenger operated services such as audio and video entertainment, telephone, intercom, television, video games, internet, email and electrical power supply for laptop computers and personal electronic devices, and especially in business class and first class areas advanced controls for seat positioning and seat comfort controls.
The airlines have responded to passenger""s expectations and attempted to improve passenger service by providing seat controls, entertainment and communication services in existing aircraft and in new aircraft as they are purchased. Due to the confines of existing aircraft cabins and seating arrangements, it has been considered necessary to fit passenger seat units with entertainment and communication system electrical boxes or other passenger systems electrical boxes that are currently mounted to the seat legs under the seat.
The conventional location of these bulky digital system electrical boxes in the under seat hand luggage area has several disadvantages, that are partly alleviated by the under floor housing and raceway system described in the applicant""s co-pending patent application PCT/CA02/01858. The installation of electrical equipment in an under floor housing reduces the risk of injury and potential electrical shock, as well as exposure of the electrical equipment to potential accidental impact damage, vandalism, foreign matter ingestion into cooling fans and spilled beverages served within the passenger cabin. The housing of electrical boxes under floor provides a less cluttered cabin and the flat floor design does not interfere with cleaning of the passenger cabin nor expose electronic units to potential damage from vacuum cleaners and cleaning solvents used during the cleaning of carpets and passenger seats.
The prior art merely provides for relocating existing passenger service components in an under floor air cooled housing but does not address the disadvantages of the components themselves, only their location. The existing components are less than optimal in terms of power consumption, capacity to serve multiple seats, overall cost, bulk, and ease of initial installation, retrofitting, service upgrades and maintenance.
It is an object of the present invention to rationalize the configuration of passenger service electronics within the passenger cabin, reduce the size, complexity and electric power demands and stow any electrical components safely in an isolated environment away from passenger contact that may cause accidental or intentional damage.
It is a further object of the invention to integrate passenger seat services, audio, video, electric power, voice and data communication electronics and conduits into hidden under floor housings and raceways within floor panels or suspended under the removable floor panels of the passenger cabin floor.
It is a further object of the invention to provide adequate temperate control and cooling for the passenger seat service components.
It is a further object of the invention to minimize the expense and down time required to modify existing aircraft equipment without requiring extensive modification to the aircraft or requiring the aircraft to be out of service for extended periods of time.
Further objects of the invention will be apparent from review of the disclosure, drawings and description of the invention below.
The invention provides a remote cluster system for providing a number of passenger seats with passenger services within an aircraft passenger cabin. The cluster includes a motherboard, having a power input connection in communication with an aircraft electrical power source; a signal input connection in communication with an aircraft passenger seat services unit; a number of circuit board slots in communication with the power input connection and signal input connection; and a number of passenger seat output connectors, each output connector communicating with at least one of the circuit board slots. A number of circuit boards are each removably engaged in an associated circuit board slot of the motherboard and passenger seat service cables communicate between the passenger seats and each passenger seat output connector. Preferably, each passenger seat has a dedicated passenger seat output connector, a dedicated passenger seat service cable and a dedicated circuit board to accommodate passenger service upgrades and simplify maintenance troubleshooting.
Dedicated circuit boards are preferred since faulty units can be easily identified and replaced. As well, simple exchange of a circuit board can upgrade services to a passenger seat to different services, memory capacity, resident software, or add services including: audio entertainment; video entertainment; telephone; intercom; television; video games; internet access; email; and electrical power supply for laptop computers or personal electronic devices. When an airline acquires used aircraft, the services can be easily modified, upgraded or repaired by replacing the dedicated circuit boards preferably without lifting floor coverings or even rewiring the passenger seats.
By combining passenger seat services in a remote under floor cluster, the cost and bulk of the electronic services is reduced considerably. Consolidating circuit boards on a motherboard enables simplification of the input power and signal connections, enables use of a single power source, and more efficient air cooling systems. The use of easily removable circuit boards in slots of the motherboard, with dedicated output connections and online LED indicator lights simplifies diagnosis of faults and permits rapid changing of malfunctioning circuit boards, with minimal downtime.
The complete under floor cluster housing system preferably includes a cooling air circulation system, temperature monitoring system, cooling fan rotation monitoring system and floor boards with integral cable raceways. The service life of electronic units, control of overheating and safety of operation are increased dramatically due to the monitoring of fan functioning and temperature during operation. The cooling fans operate in conjunction with the air circulation flow within the fuselage which generally draws air from the passenger cabin to exit the cabin through louvers in the cabin side walls adjacent the floor and then proceeds in the lower lobe of the fuselage to vent about 50% and recirculate the remaining 50% with fresh compressed air from the engine compressors. Therefore the positioning of recessed housings, with air cooling fans under the floor, draws in spent air that has exited the cabin and does not increase the heat input into the cabin. As well, the air cooled under floor housings do not require a dedicated air supply nor separate air coolers since the air conditioning system of the cabin has sufficient capacity and directs air flow to the under floor area of the fuselage.
Increased control over the temperature of the electrical system operation is provided by positive airflow through the under floor housings and temperature sensors. The sensors alert the cabin crew through displays on a control panel in the event of any malfunction.
Airlines can more easily add electronically delivered passenger services to relatively crowded economy sections of the cabin with far less difficulty since electronic components can be clustered on a single motherboard and stored in the under floor air cooled housings rather than in conventional under seat locations.
In addition, since it is necessary in a retrofit to remove and replace several floor panels, the invention can easily provide for a recessed cable raceway in floor panels or an under floor suspended raceway adjacent to the seat tracks to route conduits and cables to individual seats in a raceway. The advantage of an under floor or recessed raceway is that existing plastic seat track cover strips can be eliminated and the entire cabin floor can be provided with a flat flush carpeted surface. Existing seat track cover strips enclose cables beneath them and rise above the carpeted floor level as a result. Plastic seat track covers are sometimes referred to as xe2x80x9cspeed bumpsxe2x80x9d due to their appearance and impedance of pedestrian traffic. Use of a recessed cable raceway and flush carpeted floor over the cables and seat track removes a tripping hazard, simplifies cleaning of the floor surface, reduces maintenance of the floor surface and improves the visual appeal of the passenger cabin.